Happy Earth Day! And in keeping with this celebration of our home planet, the Avalonia Land Conservancy, the regional land trust I volunteer for as naturalist, walk leader, and documentarian, dedicated our newest refuge, the Benedict Benson Preserve. The weather, which was supposed to be fine, was, instead, chilly and misty, but our spirits were decidedly sunny, and the two dozen or so hardy hikers who turned out for the brief ceremony and long walk through the forest were in sun-shiny spirits. I had a great time leading them over the just-finished trail, and the forest floor happily pushed up intriguing flora to point out and examine: mosses, Wood Anemones, False Hellebores, those amazing Hepaticas, and the like. We enjoyed the challenge of a stream crossing, and my attempt to call in a mystery warbler. There were discoveries aplenty, but my favorite was this burl-bearing tree that, were I a casting director for the Lord of the Rings movies, I'd have made an Ent, the walking trees that are surely one of J.R.R. Tolkien's best literary creations. This dendrological elder statesman didn't need a Lorax to speak for him; he, or she—the old oak certainly could be a stateswoman—was happy to hold an Earth Day conservation with anyone who would listen.